from alex ansary: Alex covers the latest news with includes several reports of active volcanoes around the planet that are active near the 'ring of fire.' Later, he speaks with George Green, a former investment banker who has published a series of books called 'The Handbook for the New Paradigm' which he says were really written by ET intelligence.

Even if the numbers of such dissenters are small, in tight contests in key Western states they could spoil McCain's chances, experts say.

"In Nevada, there's absolutely enough to have an effect on the election," said Chuck Muth, a leading conservative activist in a state in which early polls show McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama in a statistical tie.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

from collateral news: History is full of examples of affluent societies experiencing hard economic times. But according to a growing number of independent analysts - ones whose jobs do not depend on painting a false picture of reality - the economic convulsion the U.S. is headed for may far surpass the Great Depression in terms of raw misery.

from colorado independent: Federal and state law enforcement officials will increase intelligence operations during the Democratic National Convention, overseeing an information war room that will be staffed around the clock with analysts who access a dozen databases while receiving reports of "suspicious activity" — activity that some civil libertarians claim could be nothing more than engaging in anti-war protests or photographing federal facilities that could be targeted for terrorist attack.

Central to the efforts is Colorado's “fusion” center, a place designed to facilitate intelligence sharing among federal, state and military agencies in an effort to prevent terrorism. But civil rights advocates fear that the Colorado Information Analysis Center, (CIAC) now housed in an inconspicuous office building in Centennial, a southern suburb of Denver, could enable unwarranted spying on Americans exercising their First Amendment rights at the convention.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

from raw reply: “Transportation Security Administration officials aren’t just concerned with what is in your luggage anymore. Some are being trained to assess what’s going through your mind. Behavior Detection Officers who work for the TSA go through a week long training in order to look for travelers displaying involuntary physical and physiological reactions that indicate stress, fear or deception. Though the agency won’t go into detail about what those indicators are, they say it’s a sophisticated process to determine who needs additional screening.” KXAN has more details here. This video is from KXAN Austin, broadcast July 29, 2008.

Monday, July 28, 2008

from raw story: During a Sunday press conference and campaign rally attended by RAW STORY, Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader claimed that liberals and Democrats who will vote for Sen. Barack Obama as the "least worst candidate" are actually trapped in "political slavery." At the campaign stop in Austin, Texas, Nader spoke to an audience of approximately 200 about his campaign's primary issues in the 2008 presidential election. During the press conference - held in a sweltering classroom at the back of a small, suburban Methodist church - Nader also directly addressed an elderly white woman as a "political bigot."

* a slow demise from the disregard with which we have treated our environment;

* a descent into either lawlessness or fascism for our neglect of the rule of law;

* the prospect of a quick but not painless end from nuclear annihilation.

These monsters threaten to destroy us utterly. These monsters are our own creations. These monsters are the by-products of the Faustian bargain mankind has made with the universe. These monsters are 'Frankensteins' of our creation. Or, as Pogo might have put it: 'We have seen the enemy and it is us!"

from collateral news: If there's another Katrina-like disaster, says John McCain, he'll use the private sector as a model to make sure emergency supplies get where they're needed. Why not privatize disaster relief altogether, John?

The emergency exercise is being conducted by the 307th Single Battalion soldiers and over 200 military person ell and civilians. Together they will take part in setting up, mobilizing and operating a mock quarantine area to stop a deadly virus from spreading. The 307th Single Battalion is capable of controlling and commanding communications for military units anywhere in the world.

midsummer alert: noble resolve & diablo bravofrom ghost troop: Neo-cons and their allies are pounding the drums of war against Iran. Just after his White House meeting on June 4, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that war with Iran was a done deal:

In his July 14 article “Amber Alert! Get Ready for War” http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13130 Justin Raimondo states “The Israelis have already been using U.S. bases in Iraq to train for the coming attack… [Bush] is more determined than ever to leave his lasting mark on the Middle East and the world.”

As experienced military professionals, it is our mission of conscience to publish alerts to the American people whenever the danger of a false flag attack is high. We face that danger now with several suspicious military exercises just ahead of us.

On July 22 Virginia will run a Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) scenario at the Richmond International Airport. For two weeks we have tried to gather particulars on the terror drill from the Virginia National Guard. The command has been evasive, refusing us access to personnel involved in the WMD-related activities.

July 28-August 1, a wide array of U.S. military, police, and disaster agencies will be running multiple terror and catastrophe drills. The two main terror drills are “Noble Resolve” and “Diablo Bravo."

The National Guard Bureau informed us that during Noble Resolve ‘08, Virginia will run scenarios involving a rail incident and a terrorist attack. Both Indiana and Oregon will simulate earthquakes. In “Marine Corps Martial Law?–An Indy Alert Update” http://www.lonestaricon.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=2938&z=256 we described recent terror drills that brought 2,300 Marines to the Indianapolis area last month. Two weeks ago, Capt. Stephen Bomar, public affairs officer for the Oregon National Guard, told us that a “surprise inject” for Noble Resolve 2008 could include a WMD anywhere in the state.

Texas will also be prepared for surprise injects—including nuclear devices. Exercise officials refused to provide details, saying that they did not want to spoil the surprise for exercise participants. In “Texas Terror, Code Blue!” http://www.lonestaricon.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=3036&z=262 Capt. May detailed official evasions about recent terror drills in the Houston area, which have led notable intelligence writers to settle on Houston as the most likely target for a false flag attack. He included the suspicious gunning down of CIA operative Roland Carnaby, who may have been involved in a terror plot, by Houston police.

Diablo Bravo, like Noble Resolve, is a national-level exercise. It involves Department of Energy-controlled nukes in the state of Washington. According to local officials, on July 28, “the public may see a puff of smoke with a bang at the exercise start and observe some increase in vehicular traffic” near the U.S. Strategic Weapons Facility in Bremerton. Diablo Bravo will have 500 participants from a wide range of local, state, and federal agencies across America.

In addition to Noble Resolve and Diablo Bravo, there are two other noteworthy concurrent exercises. “Immediate Response 2008,” running for three weeks beginning in mid-July, involves a thousand American troops training in the nation of Georgia. The Bush administration is pressuring east Russia, probably in preparation for an attack on Iran in Russia’s south. “JTFEX 08-4, Operation Brimstone,” running from July 21-31, involves 15,000 military personnel in amphibious exercises along the U.S. southeast coast, probably simulating the Iranian coastline.

We believe that since 9/11 the American people have already thwarted false flag attempts with well-timed Internet alerts. The Internet can effectively interdict treasonous intentions. Shining just a little light can cause the cockroaches of conspiracy to scurry. Accordingly, we urge you to pass this alert along to first responders, elected officials, media – and all other American citizens. The future of our nation may depend upon your action.

Well, apparently the Government is expecting a half million people to die relatively soon, and the Atlanta Airport is a major airline traffic hub, probably the biggest in the country, which means Georgia is a prime base to conduct military operations and coordination. It is also the home of the CDC, the Center for Disease Control. I don’t want to alarm anyone, but usually you don’t buy 500,000 plastic coffins "just in case something happens," you buy them because you know something is going to happen. These air tight seal containers would be perfect to bury victims of plague or biological warfare in, wouldn’t they?

from bbc: A depot in France from which a large quantity of powerful explosive went missing was poorly guarded, the regional head of security has said. The storage of 28kg (61lb) of Semtex at the site near Lyon was “not usual and certainly not authorised”, Xavier de Fuerst also told the AFP news agency. A search by anti-terrorist officers is under way, and the manager of the site has been suspended pending an inquiry. Semtex has been favoured by terrorists for being very difficult to detect.

from danger room: The Air Force is conducting rescue operations near Guam to recover crewmembers from a B-52 bomber that crashed off the coast earlier today. The AP reports that two crewmembers have been found, but there's no information on their condition. There's also no word yet on what caused the crash.

"The B-52 bomber based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana was en route to conduct a flyover in a parade when it crashed around about 30 miles north-west of Apra Harbour, the Air Force said," the AP reports.

from dpa: The former driver for Osama bin Laden pleaded not guilty to terrorism-related charges on Monday as the first trial under US President George W Bush's controversial military commissions got under way in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni national, has been charged with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Hamdan is alleged to have served as bin Laden's driver and bodyguard before his capture in 2001 and transfer to the US detention centre at the naval station in Cuba the following year. Hamdan alleges he was abused during intense interrogations while in US custody, and has been among the most active Guantanamo detainees challenging the legal process in federal court, including in a key ruling by the US Supreme Court in June 2006 that US President George Bush's commissions were unconstitutional and violated the Geneva Conventions.

jewish terrorist document foundfrom press tv: A document has surfaced in a UK auction, unveiling terrorist activities of a Jewish group prior to the establishment of the Israeli regime. According to the Times of London, the pamphlet unveils several terrorist activities of a Jewish underground group - Irgun - led by Menachem Begin, the future Israeli prime minister. Bombings and murders by underground groups in Palestine, such as Begin's Irgun, hastened the British withdrawal and the United Nations declaration that led to the founding of Israel.

israel cooks up terror plot against bushfrom kurt nimmo: In order to set the stage for further attacks against Muslims, most notably Iran, Israel has cooked up a transparently phony terrorist attack against Bush. “Israel accused six Arabs on Friday of trying to set up an al Qaeda cell in Israel and said one of them had proposed attacking helicopters used during a visit by President George W. Bush,” reports Reuters. Recall Israel’s shabby attempt to create a fake al-Qaeda cell in the Gaza Strip back in December, 2002. “The head of preventive security in Gaza, Rashid Abu Shbak, said Israeli agents posing as operatives of al-Qaeda recruited Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” the Sydney Morning Herald reported at the time.

US to iran: you have 2 weeksfrom press tv: Washington says Tehran has two weeks to decide between suspending its uranium enrichment program and facing 'further isolation'. In a Saturday statement, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said time has come for Tehran to choose between confrontation and meeting Western demands over its enrichment program. "We hope the Iranian people understand that their leaders need to make a choice between cooperation, which would bring benefits to all, and confrontation, which can only lead to further isolation," said McCormack.

pakistan's stock-market meltdownfrom time: Even for a country now routinely scarred by violence, the scenes were startling. On Thursday, the clashes in Pakistan were not with militants near the Afghan border but in the financial districts of Pakistan's major cities as hundreds of angry investors visited their rage on stock markets that failed them.

mexico finds tons of cocaine in submarinefrom reuters: The Mexican military, working with information from U.S. intelligence services, found nearly six tonnes of cocaine in a makeshift submarine seized this week off the Pacific coast. The 32-foot (10-metre)-long, green fiberglass craft was designed to travel just beneath the water, leaving almost no wake. It was one of Mexico's largest maritime drug seizures and the first time the country has seen drug smugglers using a submarine, the navy said.

obama arrives in afghanistanfrom ap: Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan on Saturday, the first stop on a campaign-season tour of war zones, a spokesman said. Less than four months before the general election, Obama's first visit to Afghanistan, with a subsequent stop in Iraq, was rich with political implications, although the Illinois senator flew as part of an official congressional delegation.

goldman sachs frontman meets with unocal executivefrom afp: US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Sunday met here with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has been criticised by the Illinois senator for not doing enough to rebuild his war-torn country. An official in Karzai's office told AFP the talks had taken place in the capital, but gave no details about the meeting. Obama has made Afghanistan a key focus of his foreign policy pledges, saying it - not Iraq - should be the focus of the so-called "war on terror" and promising to send more troops to battle insurgents here if elected.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Friday that his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, is likely to be in Iraq over the weekend... "I believe that either today or tomorrow - and I'm not privy to his schedule - Sen. Obama will be landing in Iraq with some other senators" who make up a congressional delegation, McCain told a campaign fund-raising luncheon.

Josh Marshall points out that there's something very wrong with this. The Reuters piece hints at it. But if Obama is going to be in Iraq this weekend, this is a major breach on McCain's part.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

from ethan allen: Coincidence or art imitating life? The slow downward spiral towards fascism grabs some fast momentum with a bit of slight-of-hand propaganda from the new Batman movie, 'Dark Knight.' The recent push towards open martial law in Chicago is an eerie reflection of the Dark Knight production, which filmed many of its Gotham scenes in downtown Chicago last summer. In the film, the Joker (Heath Ledger) creates so much chaos and violence that the National Guard (Gotham National Guard) is brought in to suppress riots and restore order. During filming, extras were dressed up as national guard troops with many seen by many Chicago natives acting in scenes and also providing 'security' for the civilian extras during takes. Military helicopters, armored vehicles and hundreds of uniformed extras maneuvered in downtown Chicago for several days while their scenes were filmed, creating the atmosphere, albeit a fictional one, of open martial law and military code of conduct for all citizens. One scene is described below:

"The scene was an evacuation scene where pedestrians and prisoners were being evacuated from Gotham City. There were two bridges the pedestrians would be crossing. The one on the left was for the National Guard and pedestrians. The bridge on the right is where the action took place. The premise of the scene was for the pedestrians to be crossing when all of a sudden the National Guard and Gotham City Department of Corrections officers move in. They create a wall to allow the prisoners to board the boat ahead of the pedestrians."

"After the interviews, we moved to a corner space in the building with huge windows so we could watch Chris direct a spectacular scene: Two National Guard helicopters carrying troops flying so low and close together over the Chicago River. Extras dressed as rifle-carrying National Guard troops were down on the streets."

While real world crime rates don't move and flow with the production of Hollywood movies, it seems odd that things would get so out of control in a city where only a year earlier the Joker was rampaging and causing all kinds of anarchy. Be it a Batman super villain or crips and bloods, the order out of chaos formula is in full effect. The image of troops goose stepping through the streets in Chicago was the scene of a major motion picture production, and now it will soon be in real time. Boots on the ground, in your face fascism is coming to a city near you, brought to you by the Pentagon planners and a few friendly Hollywood movies. What was fantasy is now reality, only we don't have a real Batman to help us.

mexican drug cartels & islamic radicals working togetherfrom proceso: According to a U.S. government intelligence report obtained by Proceso, Hamas, Hezbollah and other radical Islamic groups have become associates of the Mexican drug trafficking cartels: they are furnishing them weapons and helping them to distribute drugs in Europe and the Middle East. Ahead of time, DEA and Justice Department officials told this weekly that “in coming days” they will conduct an operation in the border area shared by Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay – where the radical Islamic groups have settled – that will show their ties with the Mexican drug traffickers... (infowars note: Of course, this is utter nonsense. The CIA — in collaboration with Wall Street banks and the Pentagon, is behind the Mexican drug cartels — not Muslims. “The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, as is by now well-known by anyone who has cared to be informed, has long been deeply involved in the international trafficking of the addictive drugs heroin and (since the early 1980s, if not earlier) cocaine, the enormous profits from which have financed, and continue to finance, both U.S. covert operations and the U.S. military (via payments to Pentagon contractors).” — The CIA: America’s Premier International Terrorist Organization.)

contaminated US site faces ‘catastrophic’ nuclear leakfrom new scientist: One of "the most contaminated places on Earth" will only get dirtier if the US government doesn't get its act together - clean-up plans are already 19 years behind schedule and not due for completion until 2050. More than 210 million litres of radioactive and chemical waste are stored in 177 underground tanks at Hanford in Washington State. Most are over 50 years old. Already 67 of the tanks have failed, leaking almost 4 million litres of waste into the ground. There are now "serious questions about the tanks' long-term viability," says a Government Accountability Office report, which strongly criticises the US Department of Energy for delaying an $8 billion programme to empty the tanks and treat the waste... The DoE's plan, however, is "faith-based", says Robert Alvarez, an authority on Hanford at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC. "The risk of catastrophic tank failure will sharply increase as each year goes by... and one of the nation's largest rivers, the Columbia, will be in jeopardy."

the process of indoctrination: how the public is being conditioned to accept the existence of an elite ruling classfrom corbett report: It seems that a unique moment in human history is at last coming to an end. Just a few short years ago, anyone who dared talk about the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, the Bilderberg group or the Bohemian Grove as organizations through which the financial oligarchs wielded power was dismissed with that ultimate debate-ending phrase: 'conspiracy theorist.' Now, however, these secretive organizations and the corporate moneymen who pull their strings are finally allowing the public a glimpse behind the façade of representative democracy at the way elite institutions are really shaping global geopolitics. People are at last free to talk about how world politics are shaped by a few thousand of the ultra-wealthy and well-connected… provided, of course, those people are closely tied to Henry Kissinger and tend to think that global government is the best way of organizing 21st century society.

wolfowitz: US future hinges on another ‘crisis’from aaron dykes: In a response to PNAC associate Robert Kagan, former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz has suggested that a ‘compelling crisis’ such as Pearl Harbor or 9/11 may help bolster America’s stature in the world, which, Wolfowitz clearly hints, has been damaged by the Bush administration:

"America’s future leadership role may depend even more on how threatening the world appears. Historically, that leadership role has often emerged out of a compelling crisis: Pearl Harbour, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iran hostage crisis, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, or the attacks of 9/11.

the pope reunites with his old buddy the serpentfrom this is london: The image was practically Biblical: Pope Benedict XVI face to face with a serpent. But the hint of a good vs evil face-off dissipated when the pontiff next squared up against a koala - and, smiling, gave the fuzzy furball a little scratch behind the ears. The Pope was meeting native Australian animals during the World Youth Day celebration in Australia, where young Roman Catholic pilgrims attended religious classes then chowed down on sausages at barbecues.

7ys on, no answer on anthrax attacksfrom raw story: It's been almost seven years since - in the weeks immediately following 9/11 - anthrax powder sent through the mail killed five people, threatened the lives of two Democratic senators, terrorized the entire nation, and helped prod a panicky Congress into passing the so-called Patriot Act. In the intervening years, not only has the killer remained free, but missteps in the investigation have had major negative consequences.

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